


Labeorphily

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 03:12:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2333141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A home owner attacks a burglar</p>
            </blockquote>





	Labeorphily

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt 'beer'

The thief had been caught in the act by the incensed home owner, who had arrived back unexpectedly, taken one look at the damage the man had caused and gone berserk. He had knocked the thief unconscious, and continued to attack him despite that, until the friend who had entered the house with him managed to pull him away. "He's out for the count, Tom! Phone the police... and - " with a quick look at the blood dripping from a head injury - "maybe better call an ambulance too. You've done a right number on him!"

"Do you blame me?" Tom retorted. "Look at the damage he's done! It took me years to get that collection together, it was probably the best anywhere in the country, and he's destroyed at least half of it!"

"No, I don't blame you - in your position I'd probably have done the same; but as it stands you could be charged with assault, which is bad enough - nobody should be penalised for protecting their property from a thief who shouldn't be in the house in the first place - but you've done some serious damage to him, and if he dies you could be charged with murder."

"Justifiable homicide!" Tom growled, but he reached for the phone as his friend Bob bent to check the unconscious intruder.

***

Jim and Blair happened to be driving past Tom's house when the call went out; Jim slammed on the brakes. "Tell dispatch I'm on it!" he snapped as he jumped out of the truck and ran to the door.

Blair did so, then followed.

Jim was already checking out the thief, and Blair glanced around the room, noting several ripped albums of the kind used for collecting things like photos. He looked at one of the damaged pages, and his eyebrows lifted.

"Did anyone call for an ambulance?" Jim asked. "That guy's in a bad way."

"Yes," Tom said.

"Right. Your name, sir?"

"Tom - Thomas Spalding."

"What happened?"

"I came back home for my wallet and found him - " he nodded towards the thief - "wantonly vandalising my collection. I lost my temper - and I think I was justified. Theft is one thing, but to destroy someone's possessions... Some of what he destroyed is irreplaceable."

"Any idea who he is?" Jim asked. "Have you seen him around at all?"

"I think I have," Bob said.

"And you are?"

"Bob Marlowe. I work with Tom, and we're good friends. We were going out tonight to a collector's fair - I picked him up, but we came back after about quarter of an hour because he'd left his wallet in his working jacket. I was willing to pay for anything he wanted, but he insisted, said he needed his credit card in case he saw something really expensive that he wanted. We didn't expect... what we found when we walked in."

"No, you wouldn't," Jim agreed. "So where have you seen him before?"

"We were out for a drink a couple of night ago - I'm sure that guy was at the next table. Tom was telling me that he'd had his collection valued - in the right market it's... it was... worth at least $20,000. I'd guess he followed Tom home, then was watching, and when he saw us go out tonight seized his chance."

"But if he knew the collection was worth $20,000, why destroy a lot of it?" Jim asked.

"Different people collect different things, and what one group considers valuable, to someone else it's just junk," Blair said. "I'd guess he thought it was a collection of something like baseball cards - pretty well everyone knows that some of those are worth a lot because they're rare. He wouldn't recognise what Mr Spalding had 'on display' as it were as being of value, he probably thought the valuable cards were hidden, and got frustrated."

Jim looked at him. "So what does Mr Spalding collect?"

"He's a labeorphile."

"A... what?"

"See, it's not terribly common, but it's common enough that there's a name for what he collects - labeorphily." Blair glanced at Tom. "Are you a tegetologist as well?"

"Not really. I started off as one, but then got sidetracked into labeorphily."

"So what do you collect, Mr Spalding?" Jim asked with forced patience.

"Beer bottle labels," Tom replied as a knock on the door signified the arrival of the ambulance.


End file.
